Two days ago the Ministry of Police advised the public, in a post on their Facebook page, of two 15-year-old girls who had gone missing.
The missing girls Viola Suliveta and Tapaau Panapa – who are both 15 years of age and attend Vaimauga College – were last seen in class last Wednesday and were yet to return home when the Police made the appeal.

You’ve got to hand it to this Government. As far as being thorough with immigration paper work goes, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sa’ilele Malielegaoi’s administration deserves an award.
Nothing gets past them, absolutely nothing. Let’s think about this for a minute.

What is driving this Government today? The question – as blunt as it is – is quite necessary given some eyebrow-raising decisions they have been coming up with lately.
The motives, the bad and the ugly, have been manifesting themselves in laws passed in Parliament and policies they are proposing to turn into laws.

And so once more, Prime Minster Tuilaepa Dr. Sa’ilele Malielegaoi and his administration have declared war on election corruption.
Who doesn’t get excited about this stuff?
We say this knowing that corruption, especially when it comes to political elections, has not been stopped. Anywhere.

The truth should be told one way or another. When it comes to the ongoing saga involving former Speaker and Cabinet Minister, La’auli Leuatea Polata’ivao, the million tala question is this; now that the H.R.P.P. has publically declared he is no longer a member of the party, is he still then a Member of Parliament?

Numbers don’t lie. If Samoa’s economy received $503.73 million in remittances from Samoans overseas last year, that is a massive contribution to the economy by any standard. Now let’s quickly take a look at the Government’s revenue collections during the past few years. In 2011, the Ministry of Revenue collected $420 million; it dropped to $377 million in 2012, and went up to $409 million in 2013. In 2014, it further increased to $421 million, $431 million in 2015 and for 2016 it was $485 million.

It’s an easy choice. The most exciting event taking place in Samoa this weekend is the Vailima International Marist Sevens, which kicked off at Lotopa yesterday.
An annual fixture on the nation’s sporting calendar, the tournament has become more than just another Sevens rugby competition.

It was only two weeks ago when the Government announced plans to introduce legislation to make it legal for an 18-year-old to sell alcohol.
And just the other day we were alerted to another Government-sponsored legislation – which Parliament passed into law last month – that now gives a child 15-years or older the authority to sell cigarettes.

Jo Mikarna. Now that’s a name to remember folks, she’s a true friend of Samoa.
A Policewoman in Melbourne Australia, she has been dubbed Samoa’s “most prolific tourist” for obvious reasons, and has perhaps been to Samoa more times than most Samoans residing overseas.

This much is undeniable. The language used by Saute Sapolu to attack Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sa’ilele Malielegaoi – in a video that has since been watched by thousands of Samoans here and around the world – is low. Even worse, the threat he made to shoot him is not only criminal; it cannot be ignored.

Let’s see. The story titled “Govt. law to legalise 18 year olds to sell alcohol” published on the front page of the Samoa Observer last Friday immediately raised the alarm bells.
Coming at a time when the leaders of this country are struggling to find answers to countless alcohol-related problems, including the needless loss of lives, the story definitely struck a sore point with many members of the public. And rightly so. Who wouldn’t be concerned?

It is that time of the year again with school fees and other expenses associated with our children’s education taking center stage.
In yesterday’s edition of the Sunday Samoan, there was an article titled “University’s tuition fees and payment deadline under fire”, which quoted a parent and two students and highlighted the difficulties that they were facing paying fees owed to the university.

It’s all happening in Samoa today. For such a small country, there really is no dull moment. With the latest political maneuvering within the ruling Human Rights Protection Party, and the developments in the halls of law and justice during the past couple of days, things are certainly heating up.

Changing habits, mindsets and attitudes is not easy.
It’s always the case, whether the change is good or bad.
Folks it doesn’t matter if the change is taking place in Samoa, United States of America, Europe or anywhere in the world, getting people used to change is always the challenge and it takes time, a lot of time.

Today marks 18 days since prison escapees Pati Chong Nee and Aniseko Vaelei dashed for freedom from the Tafa’igata Prison.
And they continue to leave a trail of destruction in their path as they play a cat-and-mouse game with the Ministry of Police – a Moamoa shop missing hundreds of tala worth of goods, and an expatriate lecturer at the University of South Pacific (USP) Staff Compound and his family being robbed of their personal effects.

So there you have it. The former Speaker of Parliament and Cabinet Minister, La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polata’ivao’s decision to break his silence – over his future with the ruling Human Rights Protection Party – has at least given us a better idea about both sides of this most fascinating story (read story front page of Tuesday’s Samoa Observer).

On the front page of Monday’s Samoa Observer, a story titled “Committee request Tribunal to review salaries” was published.
Given the recent debate about the Government increasing the salaries for the public service while the minimum wage remains at a bare $2.30 an hour for some of the poorest people in Samoa, the story naturally attracted attention.

Another new era in the history of the health sector in Samoa started last week.
With Parliament passing the law to merge the National Health Services and the Ministry of Health, Samoa in a sense is back to square one.

Let’s face it. This without a doubt is one of the most interesting times in the journey of our beautiful Samoa in recent memory. If anything, the developments in the past couple of days, especially in the political arena – open up some interesting questions – on not just about what’s happening today, but the answers could provide some clarity in the future.

The Electric Power Corporation on Monday announced a $0.09 sene increase in the price of electricity effective from March 1. The EPC said the increase applies to all domestic and non-domestic users for cash power and induction meter users. Reporter Soli Wilson meets members of the public to get their views on the increase.

Think a minute…Not long ago in America an exciting championship basketball game was played between New Rochelle and Yonkers High Schools. The New Rochelle team’s coach was Dan O’Brien. Yonkers was leading by one point with only a few seconds left to play.